Improving access to green careers in Hampshire and the Solent

The University of Southampton is leading on a fellowship in partnership with the National Park Authority and the Greenprint initiative that is examining the role of ‘Sustainability in local productivity and employment’.

About Greenprint

Greenprint is a place-based initiative across the UK’s Central South that seeks to collaboratively lead a green agenda for a sustainable future.

It brings together local authorities, universities, businesses and third sector organisations to respond effectively to climate, environmental and socio-economic challenges.

About the COLIF Fellowship

As part of the UK Research Institute’s (UKRI’s) Creating Opportunities through Local Innovation Fellowships (COLIF) pilot (funded through the ESRC Impact Acceleration Account (IAA) awards), the Universities of Bath, Bristol, Cardiff, Exeter, Oxford, Southampton and Swansea are collaborating to address local inequalities by creating fellowships that combine academic research and evaluation with civic insights and experience.

The Universities have brought together two teams of academic and Higher Education professional services colleagues who have designed and are delivering fellowships that respond to productivity and employment challenges in our regions.

About the report: ‘Improving visibility and access to green careers in Hampshire and the Solent’

The report investigates how green skills and green jobs are understood by those working in education, policy and industry in the Hampshire and Solent region.

It aims to better understand the role of careers advisors and related training and education professionals to help support implementation of Local Skills Improvement Plans and Regional Skills Strategies.

Challenges and barriers

Challenges and barriers to entry into green careers were identified, particularly for young people and those from under-represented groups who lack access to important information, advice and guidance.

A key finding was the need for much clearer definitions and categorisation of green skills matched with a poor level of training and education provision to reflect the scope of green skills and training requirements. This is critical to reflect the breadth of job opportunities which require green skills in the Hampshire and Solent Region.

The findings are elaborated in four key themes that address the problems the research team and participants identified.

Theme 1: Strengthening education and industry partnerships for green skills development
Theme 2: Utilising policy levers for equitable green job pathways
Theme 3: Bridging the information gap: strengthening green careers guidance
Theme 4: Expanding access to green careers.

The recommendations provided in the report detail actions and pathways with these themes that exemplify the importance of knowledge, communication and collaboration.

Next steps

Further work is urgently required to implement the solutions and recommendations using a collaborative approach to support green skills development in the Hampshire and Solent region.

More specific work is required to develop resources and promotional materials for career consultants and schools, colleges and universities to effectively guide people towards green skills and greener careers.

The Greenprint framework and partnership is ideally placed to provide a way of facilitating further progress on understanding what is needed to develop training and education for green skills and jobs in the region.

Strengthening such partnerships with allocated time across participating organisations and additional funding for collaborative projects, as illustrated by this research, is fundamental to addressing the critical impacts we face due to the climate crisis.